1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an image forming apparatus, and more particularly, to an image forming apparatus with an improved structure through which a printing medium is easily supplied.
2. Related Art
Image forming apparatuses are devices for forming images on printing media according to input signals, and examples thereof include printers, copiers, fax machine, and all-in-one devices implemented by a combination thereof.
An electrophotographic image forming apparatus, one type of the image forming apparatus, includes a photosensitive unit having a photoreceptor therein, a charging unit which is disposed near the photosensitive unit and charges the photoreceptor to a predetermined potential level, a developing unit having a developing roller, and an optical scanning unit. The optical scanning unit applies light onto the photoreceptor charged to the predetermined potential level by the charging unit to form an electrostatic latent image on a surface of the photoreceptor, and the developing unit supplies developers onto the photoreceptor on which the electrostatic latent image is formed to form a visible image.
Printing medium supply devices which supply a printing medium to a developing unit may include a cassette type of a printing medium supply device which uses the printing medium stored therein, a multipurpose (MP) type of a printing medium supply device which may easily use various printing media in a small amount, and a second cassette feeder (SCF) of a printing medium supply device provided to supply a large amount of printing medium. As described above, there are various supplying types of a printing medium, and therefore, a plurality of feeding and delivering paths become formed.
Separately designing the plurality of feeding and delivering paths through which the printing medium is delivered to the developing unit is not effective in terms of using the inside space of the image forming apparatus, and has a disadvantage of requiring unnecessary components.